With the proliferation of consumer electronics, such as digital video recorders, digital cameras, digital recorders, and smart devices having image and/or sound recording features readily available to capture various content and personal digital media players and smart devices having image and/or sound reproduction features almost omnipresent to provide playback of the various content, a number of content delivery platforms have become available. For example, content (e.g., a video, photograph, and/or sound file) may be shared by posting the content to social platforms such as YOUTUBE and FACEBOOK. Likewise, such content may be shared through hosting platforms such as PHOTOBUCKET and FLICKR or ecommerce platforms such as ITUNES STORE and XBOX MUSIC. The foregoing content delivery platforms, however, are not well suited for use in many situations.
For example, each of the foregoing delivery platforms employs a “pull” type content delivery technique. That is, a consumer of the media must in some way initiate the content delivery, such as by specifically requesting the particular content or otherwise causing a delivery request to be made. Accordingly, the content is not actively delivered to the consumers under the control or at the initiation of the content provider, but instead the consumer of the content must either be separately notified of the availability of the content for sharing or must discover the availability of the content on their own. It should thus be appreciated that the pull type content delivery technique often does not provide the robust and timely content delivery experience desired by consumers of the content.
Moreover, the content provider has only very limited content control, if any, when using the foregoing delivery platforms. Accordingly, a consumer may be able to access the content an unlimited number of times, copy and distribute the content, etc. once that consumer is provided access to the content delivery platform. The content provider, particularly where the content provider is sharing the content in association with a commercial endeavor (e.g., a celebrity, model, author, etc. sharing content from their professional career), may wish to broadly share the subject content but nevertheless maintain tight control with respect to its use.
Content delivery platforms, such as the exemplary content delivery platforms above, are themselves commercial ventures expressly for facilitating the sharing of content. Accordingly, revenue opportunities for the content provider are dictated by the content delivery platform providers, and are usually very limited in the revenue models available and the amount of revenue provided to the content provider. For example, the revenue opportunities may be limited to some fee sharing arrangement (e.g., fees tied to the number of content files purchased by consumers, the number of accesses by the consumers, etc.), whereby the content delivery platform provider retains a significant portion of the revenue. Moreover, the content delivery platform provider typically controls any advertising or other promotional content provided in association with the content made available via the content delivery platform. Accordingly, in addition to being at the content delivery platform provider's mercy for passing through advertising revenue, the content provider has no control of the particular advertising content that may be presented in association with their content being shared.
In addition to the foregoing disadvantages, the content provider is insulated from the consumers of their content by the content delivery platform. Thus, the content provider is unable to collect rich information about the consumers and their consumption of the content and is limited in their interaction, or means by which they may interact, with the consumers. Accordingly, neither the content provider nor the consumer of the content is provided as rich of an experience as may be desired.